The Trust has been working for some time to remove fax machines and has made considerable progress. There is a need to remove fax machines for a number of reasons but primarily because it is well-evidenced that faxing is not a safe way to transfer patient data.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is now able to impose a fine of up to 4% of our year’s annual turnover. As we cannot encrypt the fax line this proves a real risk for patient sensitive data to be sent incorrectly causing a data protection breach. This can no doubt be very distressing for the patient concerned as well as detrimental to the Trust's reputation. 

Alternative solutions must be found and this is  non-negotiable.

Alternative solutions are as follows:

• Email Encryption
• Shared Drives
• Nhs.net
• EPR
• E-referral
• Medical Interoperability Gateway (MIG)

For all divisions with fax machines, a solution must be in place by 1 December -  to allow time for successful implementation by the 31 December 2018 when all fax machines will be removed.

For more information contact  Associate Medical Director Cornelle Parker or Information Governance Helen McNae. Here's how many machines per division are in existence.